Collaborative P.D. Program Improves Science Achievement for N.J. Schools
Supported by a grant worth more than $1 million from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, Newark Public Schools and Stevens Institute of Technology’s Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) collaborated in an intensive teacher professional development program for middle and secondary science and technology teachers. In total, 74 middle and high school science and technology teachers from 30 middle and 12 high schools participated in 78 hours of hands-on professional development. As a result, science achievement in New Jersey’s largest disadvantaged urban school district rose 10% in schools participating in the three-year collaboration with Stevens Institute of Technology, which was designed to infuse Internet-based real-world data experiences into the curriculum.
The final evaluation report for the high-tech workforce project also found that CIESE had been “very successful” in providing participants with “knowledge and tools for integrating technology into their curriculum and instruction in ways that render those subjects more compelling to both teachers and their students.” It was also reported that the project increased the incidence of “authentic learning through technology integration.”
For more information about the Stevens-Newark Public Schools collaboration or the professional development program, please visit www.stevens.edu/ciese or contact Meg Turner at [email protected].
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2005 issue of THE Journal.